‘I stood up and I’m out of a job’ — radio host Bruce Bond on the perils of talking politics in the age of Trump

Bruce Bond quit his radio jock job after being told by bosses not to dis Donald Trump. (Courtesy of Bruce Bond)

Pennsylvania radio host Bruce Bond just quit after being asked by his station bosses not to slam Donald Trump on-air.

"I stood up — and I'm out of a job," the 58-year-old WTPA-FM jock told the Daily News. "Nothing like this has happened before."

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We reached out to Bond to talk about the perils of speaking up in the highly charged age of Trump — a "different climate," as he put it. What follows is the transcript of that interview, edited for clarity and condensed for space:

Daily News: Do you consider yourself a shock jock who aims to stir up discontent?

Bruce Bond: No. I'm not here to be controversial. I was hired (three years ago) at WTPA to do an entertaining show. It was a combination of many things. I talked about everything — food, trivia and, of course, stupid people in the news.

Donald Trump in the White House

BB: I voted for Hillary. I am very liberal. I'm single. I don't have children. I didn't go into this with a political agenda.

DN: You've been in this business a long time. Have you critiqued other presidents?

BB: Yes. All of them starting with Ronald Regan. Bush Sr. and Bush Jr. Bill Clinton. Obama. But the climate is different now. It's been like this for a while.

Bruce Bond, center, is resigned to the fact that expressing one's opinions is dangerous these days. (Courtesy of Bruce Bond)

DN: You posted a letter from the station's general manager on Facebook on Sunday in which he said that it is "not permissible" to diss the President. Was that the first warning?

BB: No. Memo number one came on Dec. 20, 2015. It was addressed to all on-air personalities. We were told not to enter into political subject matter on-air or the internet.

DN: Did you toe the line?

BB: A little bit. They hired me to do a talk show, to be entertaining. I was walking on eggshells. But after listeners complained, another memo came just to me on March 15, 2016. After the election I got another memo and I stormed back. I was pissed and ready to quit at that time. I said, "I'm doing a talk show and it's hard not to be able to talk about what people are talking about." I suggested a disclaimer — "If you're uneasy about what we're talking about tune out, then come back to the station at noon." My manager seemed to be fine with that.

DN: How did you critique President Trump?

BB: I have a list of a--holes — and he's one of them, along with Dick Cheney, Kanye West and Rudy Giuliani. But Trump is a strong No. 1. So I have said that he's tearing the country apart and how building a wall is a waste of money. And how grabbing women by the genitals is disgusting. I actually don't remember exactly what I said. Trump does egregious things every day. But I don't bash him about everything. And I said that the Kathy Griffin incident was disgusting.

DN: So why do you think you got the final memo?

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BB: I think it was a cumulative thing. There were complaints. It's a conservative town. And there are two guys — Trump-trained trolls — who hate my guts. They intimidated the station's general manager. I stood up to Trump and I'm out of a job. A lot of people are lying down.

Full disclosure: Bond's career isn't without other controversy. He served two years in prison for his involvement in a forged-check scheme. That didn't prevent him from being hired by radio stations after his release in 2010. But talking about Donald Trump has cost him one now.